OTTO Motors today announced the OTTO 1200, which it claimed is the highest-performing, heavy-duty mobile robot for compact environments. It can safely move payloads of up to 1,200 kg (2,650 lb.), said the Kitchener, Ontario-based company. The autonomous mobile robot (AMR) is equipped with patented adaptive fieldset technology to quickly and safely maneuver around people in narrow spaces, claimed OTTO Motors. The company said it delivers the same reliability, productivity, and durability as its other products, now in a compact package. “Nearly a decade ago, OTTO Motors introduced the first heavy-class AMR for material handling,” stated Matt Rendall, co-founder and…
FANUC America Corp. plans to demonstrate its latest automation for welding and coating this week at FABTECH 2032 in Chicago. The Rochester Hills, Mich.-based company said it will demonstrate its CNC machines and robotic welding in Booth B-27015 and automated systems for painting and coating in Booth D-40523. A subsidiary of Japan-based FANUC Corp., FANUC America said it is a leader in CNC systems, robotics, and ROBOMACHINES. The company claimed that its innovative technologies and proven expertise help manufacturers in the Americas maximize productivity, reliability, and profitability.” CRX cobots offer ease of use for welding FANUC America said its collaborative…
The Otto Group today announced that it has signed a strategic agreement with Boston Dynamics Inc. to continue automating its logistics operations. The Hamburg, Germany-based e-commerce retailer plans to deploy Boston Dynamics' Spot robots in more than 10 facilities and Stretch robots in more than 20 facilities over the next two years. Otto Group said the deployment will support its efforts to improve safety, increase operational efficiency, and address labor shortages for specific types of warehouse work. Waltham, Mass.-based Boston Dynamics noted that the agreement marks the first time both of its commercially available robots will be deployed together at…
PBC Linear plans to demonstrate CNC integration for its Applied Cobotics Cobot Feeder at FABTECH 2023 in Chicago this week. The Roscoe, Ill.-based company said its application kit delivers and stages parts to be placed inot a machining process. “By increasing the amount of raw materials to a workcell, the Cobot Feeder’s 17-tray, high-density, part-storage solution enables a machining, welding, stamping, forming, or deburring center to operate for longer periods of time without human interaction, significantly increasing productivity by up to 300% or more,” asserted Beau Wileman, Applied Cobotics and 3D platform product manager at PBC Linear. “In many cases,…
Manufacturers use welding technology to produce a wide variety of metal goods, and FABTECH 2023 will provide an opportunity to see several demonstrations of automated welding. Han's Robot Co. will be showing its Automated Welding Workstation system in Chicago this week. The scope of welding applications includes manufacturing of everything from automobiles and aircraft to household appliances, noted Han's Robot. The Shenzhen, China-based company said in a release that its Automated Welding Workstation (Gas Shielded Arc Welding) Application Solution is built around its Elfin-Pro collaborative robots to improve efficiency. Han's Robot touts welding workstation features Han's Robot said its Automated…
Tompkins Robotics and Kardex Solutions LLC this week announced a strategic partnership to jointly offer systems they said will help customers improve service levels and be more competitive. “Our partnership with Kardex will help customers drive labor savings, greater automation of fulfillment processes, and create value beyond what either firm can deliver individually,” stated Mike Futch, president and CEO of Tompkins Robotics. “The innovative solutions delivered by our partnership allow efficiencies and cost savings for our customers.” Kardex said the partnership will allow it to offer Tompkins Robotics' picking, sortation, and take-away automation. In addition, Kardex can provide its AutoStore…
Last week, the Association for Advancing Automation, or A3, announced that robot orders declined for the second quarter in a row after record purchases in the past two years. Despite widespread concerns about high interest rates and tightened access to capital, the overall outlook for the industry is strong, said the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based organization. Last year, sales of industrial robots in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico rose by 12%, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). In the first half of this year, North American orders totaled 16,865 robots, down 29% in comparison with the same period last…
Despite some setbacks, autonomous vehicles, or AVs, are hitting the road in the forms of robotaxis, delivery robots, and self-driving trucks. Stack AV Co. yesterday announced the launch of its autonomous trucking business, which it said uses technology to improve efficiency and safety while tackling supply chain challenges for its partners and consumers. “With customers at its core, Stack AV is focused on revolutionizing the way businesses transport goods, designing solutions to alleviate long-standing issues that have plagued the trucking industry, including driver shortages, lagging efficiency in uptime per vehicle, overarching safety concerns, high operating costs, and elevated emission levels,”…
Brain Corp this week announced the Site Maps feature for its BrainOS software for autonomous mobile robots, or AMRs. The company said it offers insights to facility managers about operational efficiency and proof of work. A major challenge for facilities managers is determining what work has been completed or not. “This is especially true when it comes to facility cleaning and trying to understand what areas have been cleaned and what tasks still need attention,” said Brain Corp. The company said in a release that AMRs using BrainOS can provide data insights and tools so that this information is easily…
ResGreen Group International Inc. last week introduced SimuPath, a simulation program intended to improve manufacturing and warehouse productivity. It uses Unreal Engine to create 3D representations of facilities that accurately reflect their physical dimensions and structures. SimuPath's artificial intelligence can help determine the best routes for material handling, and it relays the information to ResGreen's BigBuddy, PullBuddy, and LilBuddy robots, said ResGreen. It can also send data to other agents in the virtual environment, such as drones or human workers, the company said in a release. “By leveraging AI, robotics, and high-powered game engine simulations, we are creating a future-ready…
As change sweeps across retail and logistics, a growing number of organizations is seeking to deploy pick-and-place automation, according to OSARO and FANUC America. The companies yesterday said they are collaborating to expand the capabilities of FANUC robots for warehousing and e-commerce order fulfillment with OSARO's machine vision software. “E-commerce growth is driving the increased adoption of robotics and automation,” observed James Cooper, general manager of FANUC’s authorized system Integrators (ASI), certified education, and regional offices. “Our collaboration with OSARO enables us to showcase the latest automation technologies for fulfillment operations,” he said in a statement. “We look forward to…
